1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electrostatic precipitator having manufacturability at lower cost and high precipitation efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an electrostatic precipitator is installed in electronic appliances, such as, e.g., an air conditioner and air purifier, as well as precipitation facilities for buildings and industrial uses. The electrostatic precipitator serves to purify air by collecting contaminants, such as dust, etc., contained in the air.
Most electrostatic precipitators employ a two-stage electrostatic precipitation method using a charger and a collector separated from each other. In the most general configuration, the collector includes alternately arranged high-voltage electrodes and low-voltage electrodes to create an electric field.
However, once captured dust has been accumulated on surfaces of the electrodes, electric current momentarily may flow from the conductive electrodes to the accumulated dust, causing insulation breakdown or discharge between the electrodes. Alarm sounds to inform the insulation breakdown or discharge may be generated.
To prevent the aforementioned phenomenon, one surface or both surfaces of the conductive electrode are coated with an insulator (e.g., plastic resin). Also, to maintain a constant distance between the high-voltage electrode and the low-voltage electrode, a spacer or protrusion is provided at one side of the high-voltage electrode or one side of the low-voltage electrode.
In the case of coating all the high-voltage and low-voltage electrodes of the collector with plastic resin, although it may be effective in terms of preventing insulation breakdown, the high-voltage electrode coated with plastic resin exhibits deterioration in surface potential and the low-voltage electrode coated with plastic resin exhibits increase in surface potential, which may substantially deteriorate performance (precipitation efficiency) of the collector.
Here, although it may be proposed to reduce the resistance of plastic resin coated on the high-voltage electrodes and low-voltage electrodes for improvement of precipitation efficiency, this may increase leakage of current flowing through spacers or bosses, requiring increase in the output of a power device and resulting in loss of electricity.